I was just recently informed of the SymLinks function in assosiation with DropBox. I know, I should have probably known this already, but I didn’t. This is seriously cool. You can back up any folder on your computer to dropbox. Sweet!

And yes… I said “BOOM!”

Dealing with clients is an ever-evolving course of twists and turns. In this labyrinth, I have one method that has worked for me (as of today). I don’t claim this method to be the perfect solution, but present it as “one of many” in hopes that you glean something off of it and make it even better. Please comment and share your wisdom. We all can use the discussion on this topic.

I invite Patrick Harter to join me for a chat about clients and processes. Pat is a long time friend and business associate who has worked with me on numerous projects. We discuss a few different processes I have used, developed or subscribed to over the years in working with my clients.

Want to join us? (either in person or virtually) We’re posting all the info here

If you thought that CreateLiveAZ was short notice, this one’s our first “extremely unorganized and even shorter notice than the last event”, event that we have ever done. There is somewhat of a reason though. Gatherings like these need to be fairly impromptu (for now) as we are just trying to see what you guys find interesting and want to participate in. Once we figure out this whole thing, we’ll schedule these things way out and do all the proper promotions. For now, this is nothing more than what the first sentence says. A “see what happens” kind of event. On Wednesday @ approx 7pm AZ time, we will begin streaming from the Live Page and who knows what will happen, who will show up, drop by, chat away and (possibly) call in. All are welcome!

Here’s where I need your help… If you would be so kind to post some discussion topics via the comments here or wall on the facebook event page, I would greatly appreciate it. It’s a creative/design chat so if there are any ideas you have or would like to see/hear discussed live, we need to know. Anyway, thanks in advance. I’m looking forward to seeing how this thing comes out. Fingers crossed…

A couple weeks ago, I started out with a little design hunting for inspiration. I didn’t have much to go with in the form of design direction so the process was kind of grueling. I browsed through countless CSS galleries and sites suggested by those of you in the chat room during the live stream session. Honestly after the session, I felt pretty discouraged and had nothing going on in the brainstorm department. I dug in and started wireframing and building some sort of layout structure in hopes that some sort of inspiration would hit. It didn’t. I was spit-balling and it sucked. I did this through about 3 designs and nearly gave up. I managed to find one of them on my Dropbox restore to show just how bad I was spitballing. This is it:

I know it’s a wireframe, but it was just killing me. I started the header and just hated it. So I grabbed my iPod and took a walk. When I returned, I still had nothing but I was recharged enough to dig into the process again. Before I knew it, I was getting more and more excited about the design that was evolving. I was trying to mix web 2.0 feel with an Arizona slant as well as serve the purposes of getting the information out. There was a lot of info to present on the home page and it turned out that was the issue for me. Once I slowed down and tackled one info element at a time and worked my way down the page, placing in what seemed relevant, things started to take shape. I got all my thoughts on the screen and posted the first design for critique.

I was greatly inspired by the comments and the responses I got on twitter and it really got me excited to dig in and finish the design. Within a few hours, I had another design up on flickr for critique.

Before I got too deep into styling the modules, I decided to get some feedback on placement and layout. Knowing I had some more elements to add in, I was looking for some feedback on the functionality and layout as well as the delivery of the overall message. I got some good comments and they sparked some ideas, so I dig in again for v3.

v3 Brought in some image experimentation to see how they would play on the page in the modules. Again some more good feedback from the crew resulted in some more experimentation. This time I was getting close but again, got some great comments from friends of things I hadn’t thought of. So I tweaked the layout once again.

With this design, the layout was complete. There were just a couple lingering issues that had to be dealt with before it was sent off for slicing and coding. This layout allowed for just about everything we were thinking that would be added in the content phase (or at least I hope so anyway). I finished up the little list of things and shipped off the design.

Keep an eye out for the design as it is implemented. Like I stated in the beginning of this (long) post, I have some more pages to layout and will have some specific graphics to add as the site evolves, but I think we’re off to a good start. One thing I will be adding is a couple quick screencasts about some of the elements in this design and how they were made so keep your eye out for them as well. I’d love to hear your feedback/critique/ideas/suggestions or questions. Use the comments below. I can’t wait to hear what you think so far.

Brent

Thanks for your help!

Seeing that Justine and I have been talking about a re-do of her site for OVER A YEAR, this application, coming in true iJustine style and taste gets the selection for project number one here at Starving Designer. I’m so excited to kick things off with this project as we have been fumbling this thing around in our heads for what seems like for-e-ver! I couldn’t be more embarrassed i’ve taken so long happier to receive this application and select it as the first out of the gate. So here’s the drill…

As you see the episodes, tweets and posts, if there’s anything you think we should consider (even your help in some way), please let me know. I don’t expect any help but would welcome the opportunity to work with other creatives on any project.

Keep your eyes and ears peeled to our different social networks as well as this site for more juicy info on our progress and come ready to cast your ideas, opinions, suggestions and tips our way. There’s no better way to “Be Awesome” than through collaboration. That said… Here we go!